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| Domenico Veneziano Adoration of the Magi 1439 oil on panel Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
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| Filippo Lippi St Cosmas (from Virgin and Child enthroned with Saints) ca. 1445 tempera on panel Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
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| Filippo Lippi The Annunciation ca. 1445 oil on panel Martelli Chapel, Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence |
The moment of desire! the moment of desire! The virgin
That pines for man shall awaken her womb to enormous joys
In the secret shadows of her chamber: the youth shut up from
The lustful joy shall forget to generate, & create an amorous image
In the shadows of his curtains and in the folds of his silent pillow.
Are not these the places of religion? the rewards of continence?
The self enjoyings of self denial? Why does thou seek religion?
Is it because acts are not lovely that thou seekest solitude,
Where the horrible darkness is impressed with reflections of desire?
– William Blake, from Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793)
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| Cosmè Tura The Muse Calliope ca. 1455-60 tempera and oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Cosmè Tura The Muse Calliope (detail) ca. 1455-60 tempera and oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Cosmè Tura Virgin Annunciate ca. 1475-80 tempera and oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Cristoforo Canozzi (Cristoforo da Lendinara) The Crucifixion, with Praying Monk ca. 1460 oil on panel Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona |
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| Cristoforo Canozzi (Cristoforo da Lendinara) The Crucifixion, with Praying Monk (detail) ca. 1460 oil on panel Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona |
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| Piero della Francesca Madonna della Senigallia ca. 1474 oil on panel Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino |
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| Piero della Francesca The Nativity ca. 1470-75 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Piero della Francesca The Nativity (detail) ca. 1470-75 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Piero della Francesca The Nativity (detail) ca. 1470-75 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
The Angel that presided o'er my birth
Said, "Little creature, formed of Joy & Mirth,
Go love, without the help of any Thing on Earth."
– William Blake, from the so-called Rossetti Manuscript (1793)
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| Piero della Francesca The Nativity (detail) ca. 1470-75 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Antonio Cicognara St George and the Dragon ca. 1475 oil on panel Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, Brescia |
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| Alvise Vivarini St Jerome ca. 1478 tempera on panel National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |